


built on secrets

by Haachin



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: #adrienknows, F/M, i am sure that's an au since real adrien "she's just a friend" agreste is very oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 00:48:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17839241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haachin/pseuds/Haachin
Summary: Adrien knows that Marinette is his Ladybug. But for now, he decides to keep all of that knowledge to himself.





	built on secrets

_No, something still was not right,_ Adrien thought to himself. He turned the lights on before rolling out of the bed to take another look at Marinette’s handwriting, and then a one more look to the handwriting he had thought to be of Ladybug’s. Was he overthinking too much? Was he seeing the things? Plagg told him to sleep through the night and to see of what kind of thoughts he comes across the morning he wakes up to.

But he couldn’t. He spent half of the night tossing and turning, and anytime he would close his eyes he felt like his heart was trying to point him in some direction. He knew that he was missing a big picture of the things,  and he needed another-yet-better look to take a look… but if Marinette indeed wrote the letter he had assumed to be of Ladybug, did she stumble upon the letter he threw away?

He wanted to believe that it was Ladybug, that she was behind it. It felt like a response to his question if she would be his valentine. So many questions continued to rise in the back of his mind – if it was Marinette after all, did she want to make fun of him? Did she think that it was aimed at her… or…? He wanted to make it out of what was her reasoning behind this all?

He felt like everything inside of him was ready to burst out. Even his mind was making him overexaggerate. No, Marinette wouldn’t do something like this to make fun out of him. He thought that he knew her, and the girl he knew her to be would never do something like this. When he read Ladybug’s letter, he felt like it was his soulmate, that it belonged to his lady, every single word spoke to him and it felt like it had a voice and the only one he could hear in his ears were his lady’s.

Their handwriting resembled each other’s very closely, some of the letters they both wrote were basically the same ones. His mind constantly pushed him to continue and seek answers. Ladybug didn’t want to have her identity revealed, and he wanted to respect that. He knew that everything will come at a right time when it’s supposed to. He also didn’t force it. Maybe, it was for the best that they know about each other as less as they can, but now the things were much different. Chloe outed herself as Queen Bee, and he had a few naggings of who Carapace and Rena Rogue may possibly be.

 _One time._ Yet… that one time his eyes betrayed him. It was unintentional. He fought himself since his attention was needed elsewhere, and he continued to tell himself that he needed to figure out a quick way of how to help his lady out of the uncomfortable situation she was in before her identity is exposed. It was the first time when a villain came near to it. Ladybug was about to change back when Timebreaker was almost thorough with her and about to take her earrings off, and…

He never  told this to anyone but he broke a promise to her by taking a second-lasting sight of her. He didn’t get to see her face entirely but he found himself restless on the way back home. He felt like he knew of whom Ladybug was- she was so familiar to him that he was convinced she was so close to him until it hits him, _hard_ and like a lightning bolt.

“Marinette!”

The girl’s name leaves his mouth. Now, everything was starting to make a lot of sense for him. Marinette was Ladybug. When they were fighting Gigantitan once again, he hopped over to her balcony following Ladybug and of where he had thought he had seen her, and yet here Marinette was standing at the balcony. She quickly masqueraded and distracted him from finding out the truth about her by wrapping her arms around him and saying that she is a huge fan and in love with Cat Noir. No, not because he would have never thought that Marinette can’t be Ladybug, but as the more and more clicked in his mind it started to make more sense. She would often disappear and be nowhere to be seen moments before Ladybug appears. The moments he’d look at Ladybug, he found the familiarity in her that he never quite understood around.

“Adrien!” Plagg floated over to him woken up from his sleep all out of a sudden. He managed to get a couple of minutes of sleep since he spent half of it listening to the noises of bed squeaking as Adrien would move and him sighing. He knew that something was bothering him. “What about Marinette?”

“Marinette is Ladybug.”

“Why do you think that it’s Marinette? I think that we both have talked about that and you thought that their handwriting is just similar. I don’t talk in my sleep, do I?” Plagg suddenly stops speaking before realizing that he gave out more to Adrien than he was supposed to. He notices Adrien look his way before he moves further away from him and begins to fly around the room in a panicky mood. “You misunderstood me-“

Adrien quickly captures him with his hands. His eyes dropped down at his kwami. He wanted to be angry with Plagg – he really wanted to, but he knew that he had the best intentions when he kept a secret like this with him. “So, you knew that Marinette was Ladybug this entire time, didn’t you?”

“Do you remember the time when Dark Owl trapped you both? I saw of who Ladybug is, but I am more interested of how did you come to that conclusion?”

“When we were fighting Troublemaker and she was about to take Ladybug’s earrings off, I’ve taken a sneak peek of her when she was about to change back.” Adrien said before letting go of Plagg. He began walking around his room. He couldn’t be too loud with the noises since his father and Nathalie were sleeping, and the least thing he wanted right now was to get in the trouble with both of them. “I was not trying to. But.. _curiosity killed this cat._ But, Plagg, what do I do about this now? I just can’t come up to her next morning and tell her that I know her secret.”

“You can’t do that at all.” Plagg warned him, and at times like this, he wishes that he had his Sugar Cube with him. At least they would be able to figure out something together, and he knew that Adrien won’t be able to sleep for the remaining of the week with everything what he had found out. “You’re right… but do you realize that the boy Ladybug likes is Adrien, right? So, how does it feel now that you know that your crush is returned, kid?”

“What makes you think that? Marinette is just a friend of mine and she’s really into a fashion. Ladybug also never mentioned anything to me about Adrien, and Marinette…” He stops himself  right of what he has to say… and as a silence grows the smile finds itself reaching the corners of his lips. The girl he was in love with this entire time was much closer to him than he had thought to be. It’s Marinette, his friend, and… a warmth filled him when he realized of how much he liked it what Plagg just said it to him. But, doesn't always such things happen in the movies?  Then again, a lot of the movies mimicked events real life as well.

Plagg shakes his head in a disbelief at Adrien before muttering under his nose. “You’re so blind, Plagg.” He thought that it was the most obvious thing in the entire world, and if Marinette was so much into a fashion – wouldn’t she have the pictures of the other models as well all across the room and not just of Adrien? Also, he saw her nightmare when a Sandboy took over the Paris with conjuring the nightmares. Her nightmare was about Adrien being in love with Chloe, and of course, he didn’t know about that. He felt like letting that part out.

But Adrien needed more convincing that Marinette was Ladybug and that he was not crazy overthinking. Although, now he _actually_ wanted for Marinette to be Ladybug. Maybe, he shouldn’t be getting so used to that fact too much, but what if he is left disappointed and it turns out that it’s not her? But no way. _Her eyes,_ that’s who they reminded him of the most each time Adrien’s eyes would lock with Ladybug’s. And Marinette had a Ladybug smile.

For him, Marinette and Ladybug were not that different. Right in front of his eyes he’d often watch his classmate be lovely and treat everyone with the kindness. She was their everyday Ladybug, like he just called her that once without realizing of how much he knew about it all subconsciously. Only a beautiful person like Marinette would make such a lovable superheroine to be the way she is.

Was he supposed to tell her of what he knows about her? No, he can’t do that. He’d then force her to reveal her identity unwillingly and it would break their trust. He fantasized and dreamed of the revelation happening so many times before – and, the excitement inside of him was driving him with so much craze.

He wanted to talk to Marinette tomorrow morning, and to have another-yet-better look at her to clear away all of his doubts.

Yet, a sleep was a stranger to him that night. But a welcoming one.  
  
\--------------------------

He was not supposed to be feeling this nervous, but he was afraid that his tongue may end up making a fool out of him and he may accidentally let it slip to her.  He wanted to wait for her at a locker room before the classes, but Alya was by her side entire time and he didn’t want to interrupt their conversation. He wouldn’t know of how to steal Marinette away from Alya and to take her to a side so it leaves the both of them.  
  
But then, an idea came to his mind. When Ms. Bustier began a lesson, he peeled a post-it note from Nino’s before writing across it.:

 _Thank you for bringing school notes over to my house, I appreciate it._  
Your friend, Adrien.  
  
P.S. Look at the back.

When he made sure that Ms. Bustier was not looking at them, he turned to Marinette before sticking the note on top of her table. His gesture greeted by the confusion on her face. “Good morning, Marinette.” But he wanted to see more of what her reaction will be like when he sees of what he wrote her at the back. He composed himself back to look like as if he was listening to their teacher while he slightly tilted his head to a side to watch Marinette closely over his shoulder.  
  
He let his eyes and heart to capture the way her facial expressions changed and cheeks flushed. Adrien loved of how he was able to see Marinette like that, of how she held the squeak in with her mouth while elbowing Alya on the side to show her, and for that moment… their eyes met each other’s once again. Her innocent eyes failing to maintain an eye contact between them.

Sure, while Marinette lacked a bit of the confidence around him – her true self was very endearing. Thinking about all of this kept him awake all night long. His heart always went for Ladybug, so, what if he only feels that way about Ladybug and not Marinette? But they were the same person. He didn’t want to treat them of as two different people. It’s just that he knew Ladybug better than Marinette.

When he went over to Marinette’s house, everything also ended up in her father being akumatized because he was scared of hurting Ladybug. He felt bad about this time. He knew of how amazing Marinette was, and at that time he felt that she deserved someone better and who would love her. He didn’t want to lie to her or end up breaking her heart.

Ladybug rejected him as a Cat Noir stating that there’s a boy. But something about how she behaved at times around him made him wonder… and maybe look in to things more sometimes feeling like he’s looking for more than there is. Did she truly not like him that way, or was it because shew as scared of the consequences what their feelings may bring? What if they get in the way, and Hawkmoth uses their relationship against them once?

But then again, Marinette liked Adrien and he wanted to know more about that. He wanted to know Marinette as… Marinette more and spend more time seeing her for who she truly was off the mask. In order, for Ladybug to fall in love with Cat Noir, he knew that Adrien also had to fall in love with Marinette as well. It didn’t hurt to keep a secret like this, at least for the time being.

A few seconds later he felt fingers lightly tapping against his shoulders only for Marinette to put a piece of paper in his hand which said:

_Hi, Adrien, sure! I would like to study with you. Let’s meet each other after classes today._

And it went so much better than how he had imagined for their conversation to go this morning. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading! Feedback and comments are greatly appreciated! <3


End file.
